Good health and environment or coal power plants? Concerns mounting over Sampur

The Ministry of Power and Energy had planned to increase the share of renewable energy in electricity generation to 100% by 2030, in an attempt to combat climate change that caused the rise in global temperatures.

However, with that background in play, experts raise suspicions on going ahead with the proposed Sampur Coal Power Plant.

Over the past few days News 1st has highlighted the impact the Sampur Coal Power-Plant has on the Environment, Economy and the Society at Large.

In 2015, the Ministry of Power and Energy introduced the Sri Lanka energy sector development plan for a knowledge-based economy from 2015 to 2025, aimed with a vision to capture the full potential of all renewable resources and increase the share of renewable energy in electricity generation to 100% by 2030.

In 2013, the primary energy supply through coal was four percent and the plan hopes to drop that figure to one percent by 2030.

A 500 MW Coal Power Plant is proposed to be constructed in Sampur at a time when such a plan has been made to move towards renewable energy.

According to the Ceylon Electricity Board, a unit of electricity generated through the coal power plant will be priced between Rs. 5 and Rs. 8. However, experts say that taking the cost into consideration, the unit price could exceed Rs. 27.

Experts continue to say that rather than falling victims to health issues that arise due to coal power plants, places like Sampur must be used to generate green electricity that will not cause economical and environmental harm.